The German biathletes wanted to attack in pursuit. In the end, they narrowly missed the podium – ARD expert Erik Lesser also experienced an unusual moment.
The biathletes started the pursuit in Annecy on Saturday. An almost flawless performance brought the Norwegian Joahnnes Thingnes Bö victory (31:25.4) ahead of the Frenchman Éric Perrot (+27.6) and his compatriot Émilien Jacquelin (+47.5). The best German was Danilo Riethmüller (+1:07.9) in seventh place, ahead of Philipp Horn in eighth (+1:10.8).
But it wasn’t just the German biathletes who had to struggle in the pursuit on Saturday. There were also technical problems on ARD. Commentator Wilfried Hark and expert Erik Lesser were no longer heard for a certain period of time. Lesser then got back in at some point and said: “I now have power on my headphones again. I hope you can hear me at home, of course. The power just went out in our cabin.” The former biathlete explained everything again calmly after the race.
Lesser explained: “Either I sat on the power cable or Willi (Wilfried Hark, Note d. Red.). Suddenly everything goes black. Headset gone, the audio part that manages everything, everything black, screens black, nothing seen anymore.” At some point it worked again and Lesser got a replacement headset. Moderator Michael Antwerpes spoke of rumors that French viewers had pulled the plug from the socket .
The first shooting went very well for the German biathletes. Only Philipp Nawrath had to complete one penalty lap. Philipp Horn finished sixth, Nawrath ninth. The Norwegians Johannes Thingnes Bö and Martin Uldal dominated at the top. After the second prone, Bö pulled away with a flawless performance, while Uldal made two errors.
Things went better for Horn. The German biathlete shot perfectly and returned to the track in seventh place. Nawrath also showed a strong performance in the second prone position. He finished in eighth place, closely followed by his teammate Danilo Riethmüller. At the front, Bö was chased by the Frenchman Émilien Jacquelin.
When the Germans arrived at the shooting range again, Bö was already alone again. The Norwegian continued his zero-fault streak and also impressed on the track. While Nawrath, Horn and Johannes Kühn each missed once, Danilo Riethmüller managed a perfect shooting performance.
In the last standing attack, the Germans made one mistake each. As the best German, Horn took to the track ahead of Riethmüller. Bö pulled away in the lead. Behind them the French Éric Perrot and Jacquelin dueled. Riethmüller spoke on ARD of a “solid race”.